The war against armed Islamic extremists in Mali will lose some 2,000 Chadian soldiers, the president of Chad said, leaving Malian cities more vulnerable to a resurgence of jihadist attacks.

The news that Chad will pull its troops from Mali could force France to push back its own timeframe for withdrawing its troops from its former West African colony and creates greater urgency for a U.N. military mission to Mali. The United Nations is set to consider sending a mission, but diplomats have yet to determine its composition and mission.

...

Chad also has suffered heavy troop casualties. Chadian President Idriss Deby announced his forces would not be sticking around for a protracted guerrilla war with the radical Islamic insurgents.

"Chad's army has no ability to face the kind of guerrilla fighting that is emerging in northern Mali. Our soldiers are going to return to Chad. They have accomplished their mission," Deby said in an interview with French journalists posted online Monday.

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Once the Chadian troops leave, about 4,000 soldiers from other African nations remain to aid Mali. They hail from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Niger and Togo.

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